Diego Ramírez
Gentrified language stained with capital like blood in a vampire’s teeth 7B, 2023
33.5 x 33.5cm
Artist’s frame, floor tile from an artist cooperative that everyone stepped on, red paint, latex


This work belongs to Vampires of The Eart, an exhibition inspired by the social mediatisation of petrolium company Pemex’s fire in the Gulf of Mexico in 2021. “The day that underwater gas pipe burst, I received a hilariously performative message checking in on me,” says Ramírez, “a drop of oil came to mind, like a little tear...falling to hell.” The artist made most of the works by sampling phrases from social media, imitating how a vampire feeds and multiplies. He imposed this language on photographs and materials to create new meanings. Then he framed them using SFX materials, to create the illusion that he dipped generic thoughts and feelings in crude oil. Ramírez made every work in pairs, on the basis that this is a message between two entities, set against the backdrop of a media disaster. Other pieces include large scale black mirrors with neon, which mimic the vampire’s cycle of awakeness and slumber, by requiring electricity same as this creature necessitates blood. While also alluding to the vampire’s inability to gaze at its own reflection, suggesting that the exploitation of fossil fuels is mirror of our image.

This work was exhibited at Bus Projects as part of the 2023 Fundraiser exhibition.